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Tag Archives: music documentary
Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury
A true band of holy joy.
(2018) Music Documentary (Abramorama) Lee Bozeman, Chris Foley, Jamey Bozeman, Glenn Black, Matt Hinton, Amy Bozeman, Wayne Everett, Matt Goldman, David Vanderpoel, Jeff Wickes, Brandon Ebel, J. Edward Keyes, Carrie Foley, Sheila Aldridge, Taylor Muse, Doug Andrews, Nick Purdy, Alex Johns, Andy Prickett, Josh Jackson, Reid Davis, Kate Bozeman, Jessica Inman. Directed by Matt Hinton
The world is full of great bands. Some manage to find that connection, the one where millions of people find themselves able to relate to the songs and voilà, a star is born. Most of the time, these bands toil in obscurity until they collapse out of frustration or lack of inertia.
Luxury was an improbable band from the get-go. They came together in the Northeast Georgia town of Toccoa – more specifically at Toccoa Falls College, a Christian institution of higher learning. The initial band members – vocalist Lee Bozeman, drummer Glenn Black, guitarist Jamey Bozeman and bass player Chris Foley – wanted to play loud rock, music along the lines of DC punk icons Fugazi and A Minor Threat. Lee Bozeman was more of a Smiths fan and became almost instantly a compelling frontman, with sweet high-pitched vocals, intelligent lyrics, and almost effeminate movements onstage. The band was often described as "sensitive" and fans of other bands in the Athens scene (where this band basically cut their teeth) ruefully remember that the really gorgeous women tended to attend Luxury shows.
The band began to attract a whole lot of notice for their live shows which were described as wild and passionate. They were signed to indie distributor Tooth & Nail records, whose clients have included MxPx, Starflyer 59, The Juliana Theory and Underoath. The distributor mostly moved their albums through Christian bookstores and although the music wasn't overtly Christian (although all four members identified as Christian), the marketing went on as if it was. The lyrics often had content that could be construed as referring to gay sex which certainly didn't endear them to the Christian community. Nonetheless, the band had a huge buzz about it and many thought they would be the next big thing.
That literally came to a crashing halt when on the way home from a gig at the Cornerstone Christian Music Festival their van crashed, leaving three of the four members hospitalized. Members of the band Piltdown Man were also travelling with them and while there were thankfully no fatalities, given that three people involved in the crash ended up with broken necks it was a minor miracle none of them wound up paralyzed.
The band's next albums showed a deeper, more reflective bent than their earlier music; there was also a tendency to more musical complexity. Dissatisfaction with the way Tooth & Nail was handling their promotions led to the band not renewing their contract with them; they made another album on the Bulletproof label before breaking up in 2005. They have since reunited for an album slated to come out in June of 2019.
Interestingly, three members of the band (Foley and the Bozeman brothers) went on to become ordained priests in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In a lot of ways, the band has come full circle. The excerpts of songs from their forthcoming album sounds like the band hasn't lost any of their edge or their stark beauty.
Hinton tackles the film from an insider's perspective; he became the band's second guitarist in 1999. Much of the footage is home movies here both of shows and of studio time. There are some overt music videos from the era as well. Hinton animates the lyrics which aren't super helpful – Lee has a clear voice that is easily understood – but still is gratefully received.
The two main questions about the band – why didn't they succeed and why did 3/5 of the band become priests – are teased at but not really answered. If anything, Hinton is a bit coy about it, essentially saying that the latter situation was essentially inevitable but being in a band that likes to, as Jamey Bozeman put it "take the piss" from the Christian right, well, there just seems to be a story to be told there.
The music is amazing and it certainly led me to run right out and buy some – okay, buy some online which entailed no running whatsoever – an I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of you reading this are motivated to do the same. This is a band that in some ways did everything they could to keep from being big but in some ways that isn't a bad thing. It gave them the opportunity to pursue their calling and at the same time pursue their muse. Not many get to do both.
REASONS TO SEE: The story of another great band you've never heard of. Their story is a most unusual one.
REASONS TO AVOID: Most viewers won't know what to make of this band.
FAMILY VALUES: There are some profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: The band was originally known as The Shroud and didn't change their name until just before their debut album on Tooth & Nail came out.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 5/17/19: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet: Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me
NEXT: Trial by Fire
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged Abramorama, Brandon Ebel, Christian music, cinema, Cinema365, David Vanderpoel, Eastern Orthodox church, Films, Lee Bozeman, Luxury, movies, music documentary, Northeast Georgia, ordained minister, Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury, punk rock, reviews, Toccoa Falls College, Tooth & Nail Records, van crash	| Leave a reply
Satan & Adam
Posted on April 24, 2019 by carlosdev
The ultimate odd couple.
(2018) Music Documentary (Cargo) Sterling "Mr. Satan" Magee, Adam Gussow, Harry Shearer, The Edge, Al Sharpton, Kevin Moore, Phil Joanou, Bobby Robinson, Joan Gussow, Frank Migliorelli, TC Carr, Quentin Davis, Miss Maicy, Jeremy Jemott, Peter Noel, Margo Lewis, Rachel Faro. Directed by V. Scott Balcerek
The blues can be a beautiful thing. I think (and many agree) that no music touches every aspect of the human spirit the way the blues does. The blues can be sad yes but it can be cathartic, make you feel good when you feel down, bind us together (who hasn't had the blues at one time or another?) and give us guidance. The blues is wisdom, man.
Adam Gussow had the blues one afternoon in 1986. He had just broken up with his girlfriend and the Princeton grad (and Columbia grad student) was walking around, finding himself in Harlem near the Apollo theater. I imagine if he'd been thinking about it clearly, he might not have ambled into that part of town so easily; New York City in 1986 was rife with racial tensions and people as lily white as Gussow were regarded with suspicion and sometimes outright hostility there.
About a block north of the legendary Apollo Theater he heard music and saw a crowd gathering. Being a harmonica player himself, he was curious and listened to the man identifying himself as Mr. Satan's One-Man Band. The man who called himself Mr. Satan played hi-hat and tambourine using pedals and played the kind of guitar that rubs the soul raw. Totally in the right space for this Mississippi Delta blues, the white Gussow asked Mr. Satan if he could sit in on a couple of tunes. The older African-American man said sure. And lo and behold, the white boy could play. Afterwards, the young Ivy League grad asked if he could come back. Satan said sure. So Adam came back. And soon he was a regular partner. Mr. Satan noticed that the crowds were bigger when Adam played; it was a novelty that a white man could play the blues like that. While there was some grumbling that Adam was just another white man out to appropriate the music of black musicians, the partnership between Satan and Adam continued to grow and blossom.
The story of this duo is not your usual music industry tale. The duo would go on to record an album for the prestigious Flying Fish label, tour Europe and play such events as the New Orleans Heritage Jazz Festival. They were on the cusp of being a big act in the blues market…and then Mr. Satan just disappeared.
The movie takes place over a 20-year span. Balcerek first ran into the pair playing on the streets of New York City and became absolutely entranced with their story. He's been filming them off and on over that time, sometimes in black and white (particularly the early years) but also in color. He buttresses the performance footage with interviews not only with the musicians themselves but by those in their orbit; friends, fellow musicians, celebrities. I was surprised to learn that the two were spotted by director Phil Joanou when he was filming the U2 concert documentary Rattle and Hum and U2's guitarist The Edge was so taken with them that he put a snippet of their performance of the song "Freedom for My People" on the soundtrack.
I don't want to spoil too much about their story; I'm deliberately leaving a lot of things out which will have greater impact if you experience them without any foreknowledge. The tone is pretty low-key and even some of the emotional highlights don't hit you like a sucker punch but still there is a melancholic tone that reflects the music nicely.
And that music! Mr. Satan, whose birth name was Sterling Magee, is one of those raw, natural talents who come along every so often and simply rewrite the book. Think of him as up there with Sun Ra (jazz), George Clinton (funk) and Jimi Hendrix (rock). Yeah, he's that good. Gussow compliments his sound nicely, not quite in the same league as a musician but wise enough to know that his main job is to support Mr. Satan.
Needless to say, a guy who calls himself Mr. Satan is kind of an interesting cat and you'll be captivated by him. Magee can be charming although he has a temperamental streak as well and Adam learned when to tread carefully around him when he was in a bad mood. But once onstage, Magee was as joyful a human being as there ever was – it radiates from his face and from his smile. He reminds us that while the blues may be rooted in a particular set of emotions, there is joy in playing the blues at the absolute best of your abilities.
The story is unusual enough to make this a different kind of music documentary. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but even those who aren't blues fans will be captivated – and who knows, it might win over a few converts. While as a documentary this isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, it is compact enough that it doesn't require an exorbitant investment of time nor does it overstay its welcome. At the same time, you get to hear some raw street blues, some of the best you'll ever hear. That alone has got to be worth the price of admission.
REASONS TO SEE: The story is a fascinating one. The music is incendiary.
REASONS TO AVOID: There's a little bit of a lull in the middle.
FAMILY VALUES: The is some profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Magee played in the bands of James Brown, Etta James and Marvin Gaye (among others) and had a solo career on Ray Charles' label before walking out on the music industry in disgust.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 4/24/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 92% positive reviews: Metacritic: 78/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Searching for Sugar Man
NEXT: Hail, Satan?
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged Adam Gussow, Al Sharpton, blues duo, blues guitar, Bo Diddley, Cargo Films, cinema, Cinema365, Columbia University, European tour, Films, Florida, Flying Fish Records, Harlem, harmonica, Harry Shearer, Margo Lewis, Mississippi Delta Blues, movies, music documentary, New York City, one-man band, Phil Joanou, Princeton University, Rachel Faro, racial tension, Rattle and Hum, retirement community, reviews, Satan & Adam, Sterling "Mr. Satan" Magee, street music, The Edge, U2, University of Mississippi	| Leave a reply
Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story
Student and sensei: Paul Butterfield and Muddy Waters.
(2017) Dramedy (Abramorama) Paul Butterfield, Nick Gravenites, Elvin Bishop, Peter Butterfield, Jac Holzman, Maria Muldaur, David Sanborn, Sam Lay, Lee Butterfield, Mark Naftalin, BB King, Paul Shaffer, Al Kooper, Jim Rooney, Marshall Chess, Gabriel Butterfield, Buzz Feiten, Jim Kweskin, Joe Boyd, Clydie King, Happy Traum, Bonnie Raitt, Kathy Butterfield, Barry Goldberg, Cindy Cashdollar. Directed by John Anderson
Not many modern music lovers – unless they cherish the blues and blues rock of the 70s – remember the name of Paul Butterfield and if they do, it's only vaguely. Most have not heard his music. Butterfield was a Chicago bluesman who grew up in Hyde Park, a white enclave surrounded by African-American communities. There were dozens of blues clubs around him growing up and he got hooked on the sound early, trading in the flute that his classical music-loving father wanted him to play for the harmonica.
He would become one of the most influential musicians of his time. His band was integrated at a time when that was not common. He was a protégé of Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf, who both had the prescience to see that for the blues to grow it had to attract white audiences and in order to do that, white musicians. Butterfield was one of the best of those, even as the blues was taking hold in Britain and British musicians were enthusiastically promoting the American masters who inspired them.
The movie is pretty standard documentary filmmaking, stylistically speaking. There are plenty of interviews with friends, families and musicians although in this case, musicians who actually played with Butterfield and none who were inspired by him. There is a fairly notable lack of contemporary musical figures, although Raitt, Sanborn and Bishop are still active.
The performance footage from Butterfield's early years and salad days is particularly of interest. He had a well-earned reputation as a blistering performer – bandmates routinely describe him as a "force of nature" and "as intense as it gets." There's no substitute for being physically present at a life show of course but the footage gives an idea of how dynamic a performer he truly was. There is also footage from later on his career including some from the last months of his life but they pale in comparison.
Some of the footage is from the ground-breaking Newport Jazz Festival of 1965 in which Bob Dylan famously went electric. Most people don't know that it was Butterfield and his blues band – which at the time included Elvin Bishop and Howlin Wolf's rhythm section of drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold – that backed up Dylan at the Festival. While it vastly offended purists who believed folk (and the blues, come to that) should be acoustic music, the genii was out of the bottle. They had influenced rock and roll and now rock was returning the favor.
Butterfield's decline was as heartbreaking as it was inevitable. He had moved his family to Woodstock, New York (before the famous rock festival) and lived a simple country life with his second wife Kathy and son Lee (he had a son Gabriel from his first marriage) when he was home but that wasn't often. Butterfield had never been what you would call a consumer of healthy food and years of hard drinking, drug abuse and stress had led to a painful digestive ailment called peritonitis. He essentially ignored it and continued to play and party hard, which led to Kathy and Gabriel leaving him. The disintegration of his family apparently weighed heavily on him. His career took a turn downward as the blues became less popular and as the 70s came to a close receded into the province of being a somewhat cult music rather than a popular one. While it remains vital today, it doesn't capture the popular imagination as it did in Butterfield's era.
He died far too young at age 44 of a heroin overdose. His legacy however remains, even if most people are unaware of it. I wish the filmmakers had taken the time to talk to those carrying on that legacy rather than those who were contemporaries; it might have urged more people unfamiliar with his music to give him a try. Those who might be interested should check out his self-titled first album and the second, East-West which also was one of the early shapers of jazz fusion.
At the end of the day, this is not really an essential documentary although I wish it could have been. Truly, this is going to remain a niche film, appealing mainly to fans of Butterfield and of the genre in general. It's unlikely to convert many new fans which is a shame because the music speaks for itself. I myself am not a particular lover of the blues but I do respect the blues and those who play it well. Butterfield was one of the very best and his music ignites and inspires just as intensely now as it did when he was still alive.
The film is scheduled to play Orlando on November 14 at the Gallery on Avalon Island. For those not willing to wait that long or want to make additional showings, it will also be playing at the Cine-World Film Festival in Sarasota on November 2, 6 and 11 – all at the Burns Court Cinema, one of the two venues for the Festival. Tickets for the Festival can be purchased online here. Click on the same link for further information about the Festival which has an impressive line-up this year.
REASONS TO GO: The performance footage is mind-blowing. Fans of Butterfield and of the blues genre in general will love this.
REASONS TO STAY: This is essentially a niche film.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some profanity and drug references.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Butterfield is a member of both the blues and rock and roll Halls of Fame.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 10/26/18: Rotten Tomatoes: 83% positive reviews. Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Howlin Wolf Story – The Secret History of Rock and Roll
NEXT: Six Days of Darkness begins!
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged 1970s, Abramorama, Al Kooper, BB King, blues, Bonnie Raitt, Buzz Feiten, Chicago, cinema, Cinema365, Clydie King, David Sanborn, drug abuse, Elektra Records, Elvin Bishop, Films, fusion, harmonica, heroin, Hyde Park, integration, Jac Holzman, lawnmower, Maria Muldaur, Mark Naftalin, Marshall Chess, movies, music documentary, Nick Gravenites, Paul Butterfield, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Paul Butterfield: Horn from the Heart, Paul Shaffer, reviews, Sam Lay, Woodstock	| Leave a reply
Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
Posted on September 29, 2018 by carlosdev
No matter what the pose is, hip hop star M.I.A. is a controversial figure.
(2018) Music Documentary (CineReach/Abramorama) Maya Arulpragasam, Diplo, Ben Bronfman, Kala Arulpragasam, Spike Jonze, Arular Arulpragasam, Sugu Arulpragasam, Kali Arulpragasam, Justine Frischmann, Nick Huggett, Lynn Hirschberg. Directed by Steve Loveridge
In this age where everything is divisive, there are few more polarizing figures than hip-hop superstar M.I.A. To some, she is a terrorist supporter (her father was one of the founders of the Tamil Tigers who fought against oppression of her ethnic group in Sri Lanka). To others, she is a hero standing up for the victims of genocide in her native Sri Lanka. For others, she's a brilliant musician, combining elements of world music and hip-hop. To some, she's a dilettante who lives in luxury while railing against poverty.
The truth is that M.I.A., born Matangi Arulpragasam but nicknamed Maya early on in her life, is all of those things. She has always been her own person, refusing to be put in a box. As a child her mother and remaining children (she talks early on how two of her six brothers were killed in Sri Lanka) immigrated to England where she encountered racism and abuse for her refugee status. She spent much of her early life, like most teens, trying to figure out what her place in the world was and early on determined not to be pigeonholed.
Music has always been a refuge for her and although she went to art school with the intention of being a filmmaker and indeed started out making music videos for Elastica and other bands of the era (she and Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann became close friends) it was her mash-ups of various beats and ethnic sounds that caught the attention of XL Recordings and with an in-yo-face performance style and unforgettable songs became one of the biggest stars in the world.
She has never been shy about expressing herself; invited by the NFL to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl, she expressed her disillusionment at America by flipping the bird to the cameras for which she was sued by the NFL which was eventually settled. A crude gesture, sure but that's M.I.A. all over.
Loveridge utilized old home movies and videos (as a teen she was a compulsive recorder of life events) as well as behind the scenes access to create a portrait of a very complex and often difficult woman. She has a voice and a platform and something to say and her activism is on display in an often hagiographic documentary but at the same time she really doesn't give a rat's behind what the world thinks about her – yet she seems driven to having as much exposure as humanly possible. Is it so she can get her message across? Maybe…it's hard to know sometimes what's hype and what's real.
My big issue with the documentary is that it jumps all over the place, both in a chronological sense and a thematic sense. At one point we see her with one fiancée, then in a scene or two later she has a different fiancée and is pregnant without any transition. It's jarring and while I don't think we necessarily have to delve that much into her personal romantic life, there should be some flow there and that's what this documentary lacks.
The movie will be making an appearance locally on October 1st at the Enzian Theater for their South Asian Film Festival and while the movie is British in origin, certainly the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka is a big part of this film as is the music of the Tamil culture. What you end up thinking about M.I.A. – disingenuous huckster using her message as publicity for her musical career, or committed and passionate activist desperately trying to bring the plight of the Tamil people to the mainstream Western media – is up to you. I'm not here to review her life, only her documentary and I find the film massively flawed, although the story of her life is compelling enough. Unlike documentaries however, real life doesn't get the opportunity to be fixed in the editing bay, something this film desperately needed. M.I.A. seems to have done better in that regard than the film about her did.
REASONS TO GO: The activism of M.I.A. is very much to be admired.
REASONS TO STAY: The documentary isn't very well-organized; at times it feels like it's jumping back and forth all over the map.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some profanity, some disturbing images and a good deal of smoking.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Loveridge met M.I.A. at film school; this is his first documentary feature.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Amy
NEXT: American Dresser
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged Abramorama, activism, art school, Ben Bronfman, British cinema, cinema, Cinema365, Cinereach, Diplo, Elastica, filmmaker, Films, genocide, hip-hop, Justine Frischmann, Lynn Hirschberg, M.I.A., Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., movies, music documentary, New York Times, reviews, Spike Jones, Sri Lanka, Super Bowl, Tamil Tigers	| Leave a reply
Bad Reputation (2018)
Joan Jett is a rock and roll icon.
(2018) Music Documentary (Magnolia) Joan Jett, Kenny Laguna, Iggy Pop, Billy Joe Armstrong, Michael J. Fox, Deborah Harry, Chris Stein, Kathleen Hanna, Miley Cyrus, Ian MacKaye, Pete Townshend, Bill Curbishley, Mike Ness, Kristen Stewart, Dougie Needles, Alison Mosshart, Dana White, Sally Hershberger, Rodney Bingenheimer, Thommy Price, Carianne Brinkman, Cherie Currie. Directed by Kevin Kerslake
One of the problems we film critics have is that often with documentaries we have a tendency to review the subject as much as the film. I'm certainly guilty of that and the temptation to do that with an icon like Joan Jett is damn near irresistible.
You can't help but admire Jett as a musician. In an age when most women were relegated to playing soft rock or folk music, Jett wanted to rock hard. She wanted to be like the boys onstage; like Pete Townshend, like Jimmy Page, like Clapton. People in the industry would look at her like she was from Mars. Girls don't rock; they strum. They sing sweetly and they certainly don't shriek
As a teen, Joan Larkin made her way from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles to chase her rock and roll dreams. She hung out in the English Disco, an all-ages nightclub where glam rock was worshiped by men and women wearing way too much make-up. Joan stood out in that crowd and met Sandy West, a kindred spirit who wanted to be John Bonham. They added guitarist Lita Ford, singer Cherie Currie and bassist Jackie Fox and were christened The Runaways. Joan took her mother's maiden name as her stage name and under the aegis of promoter Kim Fowley (whom Iggy Pop described as "like Frankenstein's monster, if Frankenstein's monster was on Quaaludes") they would go on to record four studio albums and one live album before breaking up acrimoniously.
The band was met by critical scorn and by outright hostility by male rockers who didn't want to see their clubhouse invaded by girls yet performance footage (of which there is sadly far too little) show that the Runaways were as hard rocking as any male band of their time. When the band broke up, Jett was devastated. She self-medicated with booze and drugs, hanging out with people like Sid Vicious, Nancy Spungeon and Stiv Bators, most of whom as Jett puts it "are dead now." She even thought of joining the military to get herself straightened out but it was rock and roll that saved her.
She was introduced to Kenny Laguna, a noted bubblegum pop producer who heard something in Jett. Putting together a backing band who became known as the Blackhearts, Laguna melded his pop sensibilities with Joan's hard rock instincts to create a kind of hard pop. When no label would even consider them, Jett and Laguna founded heir own label, becoming a precursor to the DIY punk labels that started in the 80s. When pop mogul Neil Bogart heard their demo, he arranged to distribute their first album and it looked like a wise move when the first album did extremely well but Bogart died before they could follow up on that success and his label died with him. Undaunted, the band found another label to distribute their music and they hit the big time powered by constant airplay on MTV. While most of the band's hits were covers ("I Love Rock and Roll," "Crimson and Clover") there were several that Jett and Laguna penned as well ("Bad Reputation"). Through the 80s, Jett became the Queen of Rock, a darker haired version of Ann and Nancy Wilson.
The rock business has always been notoriously cyclical and as label relationships soured, the Blackhearts were bounced from label to label but while Jett and her band would never recapture the popularity they had in the 80s they continued to have hits here and there through the 90s and into the 21st century.
Now so far I've reviewed the subject and certainly Jett is worthy of a documentary but the problem with this documentary is a lack of depth. It's a bit more of a puff piece and Kerslake doesn't seem inclined to examine some of the darker subjects, like the allegations in Cherie Currie's book that Fowley had sexually assaulted members of the Runaways – Jett is certainly aware of those allegations and you'd think in this MeToo era she would be at least wanting to comment on them, even if only to say "I wasn't aware of that kind of thing going on so I can't validate Cherie's story."
There is also astonishingly little detail in how the high school aged Joan got from Pennsylvania to the West Coast, whether she was able to reconnect with her former bandmates in the Runaways or even who her personal influences are as a musician. Watching this movie is very much like staring at a picture that has been put through a shredder and tossed in a trash can and then later reassembled at the city dump; there are lots of pieces missing and the ones that are there are incomplete.
Still, Jett is candid and engaging. She doesn't address her sexuality – I don't think she should have to – which has been a subject of gossip for decades. If anything, I think Jett is married to rock and roll and that's the source of her sexuality and her creativity. It is her center and her savior, and often her curse. It is the greatest love in her life. And like all of our own relationships it has had its ups and downs but she is still loyal to it nevertheless. That's pretty damn admirable if you ask me.
You likely won't respect Jett as a musician any more after seeing this than you already do – or do not, if you are of that mindset. You may find yourself respecting her more as a person as I did. Overall I'd have to say that while Jett is indeed a rock icon who deserves every accolade she gets thrown her way, I might have wished for a better biography of her than this. She's earned better.
REASONS TO GO: Jett is a marvelous subject; she's candid and engaging.
REASONS TO STAY: A little bit Music Documentary 101.
FAMILY VALUES: There's some brief nudity, sexual references and gestures, profanity and drug references.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Jett celebrated her 60th birthday just four days before the film was released.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Fandango Now, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft, Vudu, YouTube
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Runaways
NEXT: Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
Posted in New Releases, VOD Review	| Tagged Bad Reputation, big in Japan, Billy Joe Armstrong, Bruce Springsteen, Cherie Currie, Chris Stein, cinema, Cinema365, cover versions, Deborah Harry, English Disco, Films, Ian Mackaye, Iggy Pop, Joan Jett, Kathleen Hanna, Kenny Laguna, Kim Fowley, Kristen Stewart, Light of Day, Los Angeles, Magnolia Releasing, Mia Zapata, Michael J. Fox, Mike Ness, Miley Cyrus, misogyny, movies, music documentary, Neil Bogart, New York City, Pete Townshend, rape allegations, reviews, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Rodney Bingenheimer, sexuality, The Gits, The Runaways, VOD Reviews	| Leave a reply
The Public Image is Rotten
John Lydon considers his kitchen.
(2017) Music Documentary (Abramorama) John Lydon, Jah Wobble, Martin Atkins, Lu Edmonds, John Rambo Stevens, Alan Dias, Bill Laswell, Don Letts, Pete Jones, Bruce Smith, Thurston Moore, Moby, Adam Horovitz, Big Youth, Flea, Nick Launay, Scott Firth, Keith Levene, Jebin Bruni, Ginger Baker, Andrew Perry, Michael Alago, Ian Mackaye, John Waters, Vivien Goldman. Directed by Tabbert Filler
At first glance, doing a documentary on his post-punk project Public Image, Ltd. (or more popularly known as PiL) doesn't seem to be something John Lydon would be terribly comfortable. Music documentaries by their nature tend to look back; Lydon has always been more interested in what lies ahead rather than what lies behind. However, Lydon has turned 60 and when people get to be more reflective at that age.
For those who don't know, Lydon was one of the founding members of the Sex Pistols, the band credited with igniting the punk revolution which led to a fertile period in which musicians explored new forms of pop and rock and created music that broke all the rules, then continued on breaking those rules again. The Sex Pistols imploded before much of that happened amid much acrimony; Lydon was famously sued by band manager and control freak Malcolm McLaren who prevented Lydon from using his stage name of Johnny Rotten; the memory still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth although when McLaren passed away in 2010 Lydon paid tribute to the impresario.
Nearly broke and without a means of making a living, Lydon assembled a new band that eventually was named after a book by Muriel Spark with ex-Clash guitarist Keith Levene, Lydon's former schoolmate Jah Wobble and Canadian drummer Jim Walker. The group released several albums and eventually fell victim to egos and contentious personalities. But that wouldn't be the end of PiL.
Public Image Ltd. Has been in existence for 40 years now and has consistently pushed the boundaries of expectation, choosing to explore and invent rather than repeat. While they've only released ten studio albums in that period, albums like Metal Box and Happy? Have influenced generations of musicians, including Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Moby and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who was once offered a position in the band but turned it down to remain with his old band), all of whom are interviewed here.
Lydon is a fascinating subject. He is known for his candor and occasionally for genuine introspection. He has a puckish sense of humor (he spends much of the film interview sequences in his pajamas, sitting at a breakfast bar in his kitchen, reheating his coffee in the stove. He is self-deprecating from time to time – he doesn't take fame very seriously – but when it comes to the music his demeanor is all business. He also keeps his private life as private as possible. His wife Nora doesn't appear on camera and Lydon doesn't really discuss how he and his wife have raised her granddaughters (Nora's daughter is the late Slits lead singer Ari Up) although he does remark that having the kids around has changed him.
Most of the film revolves around the band and Lydon is generally complimentary to former bandmates, although there are exceptions. Of Wobble he said "He contributed a lot but ultimately he took more than he gave," referring to Wobble's middle finger exit to the band. Filler at least gives equal time to some of the musicians whom Lydon has issues with. Lydon is a fine storyteller and many of his bandmates – particularly Atkins – are also fine storytellers as well.
Fans of the band – which I was not one of – will appreciate the concert footage of the group, including their notorious Ritz show in New York in which the band chose to play behind a theater screen leading to a near-riot which Lydon gleefully claims is maybe their best live show ever. I have to admit however hearing Lydon talk about the uncompromising nature of the band and their need to continually reinvent themselves made a fan out of me and that's not an easy thing to accomplish.
If I have any beef with the movie is that we don't get as much on what motivates some of the stylistic changes that the band went through. I think part of it is that Lydon insists on bringing in musicians who are inventive but also gifted players like Levene, the late John McGeoch, Alan Dias and even Jah Wobble. Still, this may be one of the best music documentaries ever made. Even if you're not a particular fan of PiL you should still see this; you may change your mind as I did.
The film is currently playing in New York City but will be playing all over the country in the coming months. Orlando residents can see the movie in November as part of the Enzian's Music Monday series. Tickets for that show are on sale now.
REASONS TO GO: The band's story is truly compelling. Lydon is an engaging raconteur. The concert footage is wonderful. Interviewing Lydon in his pajamas at his breakfast bar in his kitchen is a stroke of genius.
REASONS TO STAY: We get little sense of the things that influence Lydon in his creative process.
FAMILY VALUES: There is a fair amount of profanity as well as some drug references.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This is Filler's first feature film as a director. He has worked as a cinematographer on other films including Sammy Gate and The Activist.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 9/8/18: Rotten Tomatoes: 60% positive reviews. Metacritic: 66/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Wrecking Crew
FINAL RATING: 10/10
NEXT: MDMA
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged Abramorama, Adam Horovitz, Alan Dias, Big Youth, Bill Laswell, Bruce Smith, cinema, Cinema365, Don Letts, Films, Flea, Ginger Baker, Ian Mackaye, Jah Wobble, John Lydon, John McGeoch, John Waters, Johnny Rotten, Keith Levene, London, Lu Edmonds, Malcolm McLaren, Martin Atkins, Moby, movies, music documentary, Nick Launay, Pete Jones, post-punk, Public Image Ltd., reinvention, reviews, The Public Image is Rotten, The Sex Pistols, The Slits, Thurston Moore	| Leave a reply
Songs are weird things says Ed Sheeran.
(2018) Music Documentary (Apple Music/Abramorama) Ed Sheeran, Benny Blanco, Julia Michaels, Johnny McDaid, Matthew Sheeran, Fuse Odg, Foy Vance, Ryan Tedder, Murray Cummings, Amy Wadge. Directed by Murray Cummings
Some movies are meant to appeal to niche audiences. This particular documentary is going to appeal to Ed Sheeran fans, for example; it isn't likely to win any new ones and how you receive the film is going to entirely depend on how you receive his music.
Me, I blow hot and cold on Ed Sheeran. He has written some beautiful, amazing songs. He has also written some cliché pop songs that sound like they came off an assembly line. It's okay – nobody is ever going to write songs in which every single one appeal to you. That just isn't possible. However, I suppose that dichotomy of admiration has colored my perception enough to make this a mixed review.
The movie takes place during Sheeran's 2016 hiatus. He had just finished touring off his second album Multiply and was preparing to record his third album Divide. Cummings shoots this entirely on hand-held cameras giving a fly-on-the-wall immediacy but strangely it lacks intimacy. It feels like everyone there is playing to the camera and nobody is being themselves. We rarely get any conversations with any depth to them during the course of the film, which is not a good thing.
That would be all right if there was something interesting going on onscreen but I'm afraid there really isn't. The songwriting process seems to be Sheeran and various collaborators noodling about on guitars, keyboards or to a computer-generated beat and coming up with snippets of lyrics and couplets of songs. There does seem to be a process of building each song like a child with a LEGO set but oddly Sheeran never comments on the process and even more stupefying is that Cummings never asks him.
This isn't a Dylanesque songwriter sitting down at a piano or with a guitar and letting inspiration come; Sheeran has collaborators (as many as nine) on each song which I suppose can generate some synchronicity but to be honest, a lot of the songs lack a human kind of spark. Personally I would love to see Sheeran lock himself in a room and let his heart do the writing but given that he proclaims near the end of the film "Anyone who doesn't want to be bigger than Adele is in the wrong business," which leads me to retort that anyone who doesn't want to write songs that illuminate, or touch the heart of the listener is in the wrong business as well.
Keep in mind that Sheeran is a young man who achieved extraordinary success at a young age and perhaps his priorities are skewed because of it. He seems an affable young man with an easy grin and there are at least two songs on the album that I thought were incredible but most of the others were to put it bluntly sounded alike. The problem with modern music is that too many artists rely on formulas to create hits rather than revealing something of themselves. Formulas are easy; insights are hard and the latter are almost non-existent here.
Still, some of the musical sequences are lovely (particularly a heartwarming moment when he records at Abbey Road) and some are just goofy, most of that supplied by producer/songwriter/partner-in-crime Benny Blanco whose fear of flying causes him to take a transatlantic cruise ship. Sheeran tags along and the men turn one of the larger suites into a recording studio for the voyage which sounds better on paper than it does on film. This is not a great documentary but it's an adequate one. Maybe that's the best we could have expected.
REASONS TO GO: Sheeran fans are going to adore this.
REASONS TO STAY: I didn't really find any insight into the songwriting process.
FAMILY VALUES: There is a fair amount of profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Cummings is Sheeran's cousin; the two have been close friends since childhood.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Nick Cave: One More Time With Feeling
NEXT: Minding the Gap
Posted in New Releases	| Tagged Abbey Road Studios, Abramorama, Apple Music, Benny Blanco, cinema, Cinema365, collaboration, Divide, Ed Sheeran, Films, London, Los Angeles, movies, music documentary, pop music, Queen Mary II, reviews, songwriter, songwriting proess, studios, Transatlantic cruise	| Leave a reply

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Graviteam | Mius-Front receives its second DLC - Graviteam Tactics: Croatian Legion!
Mius-Front receives its second DLC - Graviteam Tactics: Croatian Legion!
First days of the German operation "Blau" in the summer of 1942 in the Oskol river area. Composite detachment of 13 TC is trying to assist the retreating Soviet rifle divisions, hitting the advancing enemy forces - 369 Croatian reinforced infantry regiment - from the flank.


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text:
Home»2022»Sticking it to Forever Chemicals: Ion exchange for PFAS removal
Sticking it to Forever Chemicals: Ion exchange for PFAS removal
By Brooke K. Mayer, PhD, PE
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of chemicals that are widely used in consumer products, such as specialized garments, stain-resistant coatings, non-stick cookware and aqueous film-forming foam used for firefighting.[1] These man-made micropollutants have been dubbed forever chemicals due to PFAS' extreme resistance to degradation, stemming from their high polarity, solubility and strong C-F bonds.[2] Widespread use and extreme stability led to pervasive PFAS occurrence in the environment, wildlife and humans. Based on evidence that continued exposure to certain PFAS above threshold levels may lead to adverse health effects, US EPA established the current drinking water health advisory level at 70 ng/L for total perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) + perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).[3] In 2021, the agency issued a final regulatory determination for these two compounds.
While PFOA and PFOS are by far the most well studied, there are thousands of other PFAS chemicals, encompassing a wide range of distinct physical and chemical properties. Long-chained PFAS (such as PFOA and PFOS) were phased out in the early 2000s. Nonetheless, given their recalcitrance, they are still detected in the environment. This is exacerbated by the breakdown of long-chain PFAS to short chain over time, as well as increasing use of short-chain PFAS such as perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) and other analogues such as GenX, ADONA and F-53B. The most common short chain PFAS, PFBA and PFBS, have been widely detected in drinking water, sediment, sewage sludge and polar snow/ice.[4] Accordingly, US EPA's proposed Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) includes all 29 PFAS with validated agency drinking water methods (Figure 1).[5]
Figure 1. The 29 PFAS on US EPA's proposed UCMR 5.5 These compounds include a range of non-polymeric PFAS chemical classifications, structures and chain lengths (short-chain PFCA < 8C, short-chain PFSA < 6C). The classifications were adapted from Buck et al. (2011)6 and Dixit et al. (2021)1) and an example chemical structure (from ChemSpider or ChemSrc) is shown for each.
In general, PFAS molecules consist of i) a hydrophobic, nonionic tail composed of a fluorinated carbon chain (either partially or fully substituted with F) and ii) a charged ionic head (terminal functional group such as -SO3- or -COO-). Most PFAS are negatively charged (anionic)[7], although some are positively charged (cationic) or both positively and negatively charged (zwitterionic), as increasingly identified using advanced analytical techniques, e.g., Barzen-Hanson (2017).[8] Wide variation in PFAS structure and net surface charge influences their fate and transport in environmental and engineered systems.[9]
Conventional drinking water technologies such as coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, biofiltration and oxidation (either conventional or advanced) are often ineffective for removing PFAS.[2] US EPA's Drinking Water Treatability Database[10] indicates that granular activated carbon (GAC), ion exchange (IX), some novel adsorptive media and membrane separation can achieve >99 percent removal of several types of PFAS (with the most extensive testing for PFOA and PFOS). Adsorption using GAC or IX has emerged as the most widely used approach to control PFAS.[9] For removal of long-chain PFAS, GAC can be effective; however, it offers poorer removal of shorter-chain analogues and its lack of selectivity can inhibit PFAS removal when organics or anionic competitors are present. Compared to GAC, Murray et al. (2021)[11] found that IX provided more cost-effective adsorption of long- and short-chain PFAS.[9] In particular, IX performance exceeds GAC for removal of short-chained PFAS.[1],[9] Accordingly, IX is a promising technology for effective PFAS removal based on its effectiveness, ease of operation, large adsorption capacity, small footprint and potential for regeneration and reuse.[1]
Strong base anion exchange resins are composed of a neutral, hydrophobic copolymer backbone with positively charged exchange sites loaded with counterions (e.g., chloride).[7] The primary mechanisms of PFAS removal using IX are electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic effects, whereas GAC adsorption relies on hydrophobic interactions (such that higher hydrophobicity and molecular weight PFAS are increasingly amenable to GAC adsorption).[1],[9],[11] The hydrophobic perflourinated PFAS tail can adsorb to the hydrophobic IX backbone and/or resin cross linkers, while the hydrophilic, charged PFAS head is electrostatically attracted to the resin's IX site, causing it to replace the pre-loaded Cl- counterion, as illustrated in Figure 2.[7]
In their comprehensive study of 75 PFAS and 13 IX materials plus GAC, Fang et al. (2021)[9] found that anion exchange resins provided significantly greater PFAS removal compared to cation exchange resins, non-ionic resins and GAC, regardless of the PFAS' [predicted] charge. The relative order of PFAS removal using anion exchangers was anionic > zwitterionic > cationic. Notably, tailored, PFAS-selective resins exhibit superior PFAS removal compared to conventional IX materials.[1],[9] With increasing PFAS chain length and net negative charge, PFAS removal also increased.[9] Longer-chain perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are characterized by lower solubility and stronger hydrophobic interactions and therefore, more efficient removal. Additionally, long-chain perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs) tend to exhibit more efficient removal compared to long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) based on IX resins' substantially higher adsorption capacity of sulfonates relative to carboxylates.[11]
Beyond the character of the PFAS itself, a number of IX resin properties can impact the rate of PFAS removal, including polymer composition (polystyrene versus polyacrylic), functional group (quaternary amine, tertiary amine, etc.) and pore structure due to the extent of cross-linking (macroporous versus gel).[1],[2] Greater PFAS affinity has been observed using polystyrene resins with complex amino functional groups compared to polyacrylic resins with quaternary or tertiary amine functional groups, indicating that hydrophobic composition (e.g., polystyrene) is most effective.[1],[9]
Macroporous IX materials generally have higher PFAS adsorption capacity compared to gel IX materials. For microporous IX resins, high molecular weight organics, e.g., humics, can impede PFAS removal by physically blocking pores and thus excluding internal exchange sites. Moreover, aggregation of the PFAS itself, e.g., as micelles (or hemimicelles, as pictured in Figure 2) can impact IX efficiency. Such structures may not be able to access pores on microporous gel material, thereby decreasing PFAS removal. Additional parameters such as the ratio of resin to PFAS, presence of other ionic competitors, material porosity, water temperature and distribution of resin bead diameter can also impact PFAS removal kinetics. Sulfate, phosphate and nitrite are the most competitive inorganic ions for PFAS; fulvic acid and other smaller molecular weight organics can also compete for IX sites.[1]
Reusability of the adsorbent is another consideration for PFAS treatment. Single-use IX is more frequently used versus multi-use regenerable resins given the simplicity of single use operation in small systems.[1] Specifically, regenerable resins often require longer contact times for PFAS adsorption and must then be regenerated using various salts and/or cosolvent solutions (salts facilitate desorption of the charged head, whereas organic cosolvents facilitate desorption of the hydrophobic tail).[1],[7],[9] Regeneration also necessitates subsequent handling of the PFAS-concentrated brine solution, e.g., using electrochemical treatment,[12],[13] whereas single use systems use incineration, thermal destruction or sulfate-based advanced oxidation to dispose of the spent resin.1 Resin manufacturing often carries the highest life cycle environmental burden, highlighting the benefits of reusable IX materials for efficient PFAS removal by, literally, sticking it to forever chemicals.[1]
Dixit F, Dutta R, Barbeau B, Berube P, Mohseni M. "PFAS removal by ion exchange resins: A review." Chemosphere. 2021;272:129777. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129777
Rahman MF, Peldszus S anderson WB. "Behaviour and fate of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in drinking water treatment: A review." Water Res. 2014;50:318-340. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2013.10.045
US EPA. Research on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). Published 2021. Accessed December 11, 2021. https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/research-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas
Li F, Duan J, Tian S, et al. "Short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in aquatic systems: Occurrence, impacts and treatment." Chem Eng J. 2020;380(June 2019). doi:10.1016/j.cej.2019.122506
US EPA. Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule. Monitoring Unregulated Drinking Water Contaminants. Published 2021. Accessed December 11, 2021. https://www.epa.gov/dwucmr/fifth-unregulated-contaminant-monitoring-rule
Buck RC, Franklin J, Berger U, et al. "Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the environment: Terminology, classification and origins." Integr Environ Assess Manag. 2011;7(4):513-541. doi:10.1002/ieam.258
Woodard S, Berry J, Newman B. "Ion exchange resin for PFAS removal and pilot test comparison to GAC." Remediation. 2017;27(3):19-27. doi:10.1002/rem.21515
Barzen-Hanson KA, Roberts SC, Choyke S, et al. "Discovery of 40 classes of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in historical aqueous Film-forming foams (AFFFs) and AFFF-impacted groundwater." Environ Sci Technol. 2017;51(4):2047-2057. doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b058439.
Fang Y, Ellis A, Choi YJ, et al. "Removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) using ion-exchange and nonionic resins." Environ Sci Technol. 2021;55(8):5001-5011. doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c00769
US EPA. Welcome to the Drinking Water Treatability Database. Accessed December 11, 2021. https://tdb.epa.gov/tdb/home/
Murray CC, Marshall RE, Liu CJ, Vatankhah H, Bellona CL. "PFAS treatment with granular activated carbon and ion exchange resin: Comparing chain length, empty bed contact time and cost." J Water Process Eng. 2021;44(July):102342. doi:10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.102342
Ryan DR, Mayer BK, Baldus C, Wang Y, Mcnamara PJ. "Electrochemical technologies for per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances mitigation in drinking water and water treatment residuals." Water Sci. 2021;3(5):1-23.
McBeath ST, Serrano Mora A, Asadi Zeidabadi F, et al. "Progress and prospect of anodic oxidation for the remediation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in water and wastewater using diamond electrodes." Curr Opin Electrochem. 2021;30(October):100865. doi:10.1016/j.coelec.2021.100865
Dr. Brooke K. Mayer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering as part of the Opus College of Engineering at Marquette University. She holds Bachelors, Masters and doctorate degrees in civil engineering with an emphasis in environmental engineering from Arizona State University. She is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Arizona.
Asahi/America's New T-342 Diaphragm Valve with Sanitary Ends
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Electro-Chemical Devices' TOC Analyzer Measures Carbon Levels Accurately
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Turns out the man formerly known as Chad Johnson (who now gets mail as Chad Ocho Cinco) isn't the only NFLer who felt the need to switch up his birth name.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Greg White will from now on show up on his opponent's scouting reports as Stylez G. White. The inspiration for "Stylez" came from a character in the 1985 flick "Teen Wolf," where actor Jerry Levin played Rupert "Stiles" Stilinski.
Great Scott! "Doc" Brown invented the flux capicator that appeared in the "Back to the Future" movies. For those who don't know, the fulx capicator is what makes time travel possible. Sure, Doc is absent-minded sometimes, but it's been rumored that Stylez sometimes forgets plays at D-end, so it would have been a perfect fit.
What other characters do you think were on White's radar?


There are times in your life when a visual pick-me-up or some other form of marvelous inspiration can make your day. Other times, if the muse strikes you or things just fall into place as you want them to, you may wish to share the joy of your discovery or moment of beauty. Sharing the beauty of life is one sure fire way to kindle special warmth and love in others. To find some ways to touch that special spot in others, here are some heart-stirring suggestions.
Use whatever is 'lying around' to make something ordinary into something beautiful. Junk art is not an oxymoron––there are real artists who spend their lives turning junk into beauty. This art form proves that one man's trash is another man's treasure. And it's a way of showing respect to your planet and fellow human beings by reusing its resources to spread beauty. It's about igniting a sense of resourcefulness within you.
Turn your favorite art or craft skill toward re-purposing junk into art. If you knit or crochet, try knitting or crocheting with unwanted materials like plastic bags, netting or old sweaters. If you love to paint, do still lifes that show the beauty of garbage––now there's a challenge for you! If you're into woodworking, tin-crafting, decoupaging, etching, drawing, gluing, cutting and pasting, there will always be endless inspirations out there for you to work with junks and turn them into something more useful and beautiful.
For ideas, use your favorite search engine and search for junk art projects or junk art ideas, etc.
Check out wikiHow's vast selection of how-tos on re-purposing old junks into useful new items. For example, visit the category for more ideas than you'll have time to know what to do with!
Graphic software of all types can assist you with design and craft. Some programs are free, while some have quite the price tag. Choose whatever lets you transform your ideas into things of beauty to share with others.
Use scrap-booking software to make pages to share with family and friends.
Write short stories, poems and novels. Getting started is often half the battle, so set aside those excuses and make the time. Share with a friend, then a colleague and then a stranger, getting your work out there and brightening their day. You can even write here in Wikihow and manage your blog by the words of wisdom only you can have.
Get a program like Photoshop and start playing around with your photos. Make them brighter, funnier, entertaining or simply prettier. Add messages of fun and hopefulness. Send them to family and friends to add a spot of beauty in their day.
Send amazing things you've made by email. Take photos of whatever you've created, write a very simple email message with lots of hugs and send it to cheer up someone who is snowed under with work or problems. Help them to remember what matters in life.
Point out to people how lovely the day is. Point out the symmetry of the snowflakes, the shimmering haze on the horizon or the changing colors of the leaves. They may not have seen the beauty amid all their troubles all by themselves but you can bring them there through your exquisite shares of real natural beauty.
Enjoy the seasonal events to their fullest. Whether it's Halloween, Thanksgiving,Christmas, or any other occasion, share the joy of that season by celebrating it and sharing tokens of beauty related to the event. The seasonal event provides myriad opportunities to appreciate the beauty of the season.
Make nature craft items that celebrate the abundance and beauty of nature's abundance. There are many possibilities, including making wreaths from twigs and leaves, nut sculptures, leaf prints, photos of landscapes turned into artworks, seed pictures, seed pod figurines, and much more. Give to friends and family after creating, or share your images of your creations on sites such as Pinterest.
Plant small spring bulbs. Crocus blends in well with grass and is one of the first flowers to blossom in the spring. You can go further and plant them surreptitiously in your neighborhood park or along a favorite walking path. They're fairly hardy and need no weeding or fertilizer when established.
Of course, never plant pest plants randomly. Always take into account what's native to your area and stick to increasing the amount of that rather than spreading invasive species!
Plant a garden to create an outward show of natural beauty. Many perennialsand shrubs are available. As for flowers, their blooms will attract the gaze of passers-by and visitors alike, for there are few people who wouldn't feel joy at seeing flowers in full bloom!
Talk to your local greenhouse or nursery about what plants will do best in your area, as plants used to local conditions will always thrive best. By growing a locally-derived garden, not only are you beautifying the area, you are also providing yet another carbon dioxide recycling area on planet earth.
Pick up litter whenever possible. This may also inspire others to do likewise, and the cleaner an area is, the less likely others will litter.
If that voice in your head says, "I didn't drop that, so why should I pick it up?", remind yourself that the whole world is your home and backyard. Sure, you may not have made the mess but you care enough to do something about it and remind others of what really matters.
Join in other litter cleaning up efforts, on beaches, in parks and in the countryside. If you see others already collecting litter, pitch in and help.
Beautify a public area. If you have the time and skills, find a rundown part of your neighborhood to make more beautiful. Gather some other members of the community, some paint, yarn, gardening tools, whatever and get to beautifying it. While this is probably not quite "random", as you'll need to plan a little, it'll seem random and beautiful to most of the community who have grown used to ugly façades and rundown areas of their local area.
Always check that it's okay to start painting or changing something owned by others. If it's a public space, check with the municipality first if the result is likely to be permanent.
Rundown buildings that never get done up can be canvases for people's dreams. Paint with chalkboard paint. Leave boxes of chalk next to the painted walls. And ask simple questions like: Who do you really want to be? or What would you rather be doing? or What should this building be turned into? Encourage a few people to write some lines, then it'll probably get a life of its own.
Look around. Sometimes, the beauty of the world or of human life needs some encouragement or enhancement to be seen by others. Maybe that is your calling; to see what others don't and add to it, then make it clear for all else to see.


EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová said Europeans who have gone to join jihadist Isis fighters in Syria may number more than 6,000.
The EU justice commissioner spoke of the number of jihadists being recruited in Europe on the eve of a Barcelona meeting of European and North African foreign ministers.
Representatives from 36 countries will meet in the Catalan capital to discuss ways to fight terrorism.
"At the European level, we estimate that 5,000 to 6,000 individuals have left for Syria," Věra Jourová told Le Figaro in an interview, adding that the true number was likely to be far higher due to the difficulty of tracking foreign fighters in the conflict.
Jourová said the EU instead wanted to promote prevention as a means of curtailing the steady flow of European nationals, looking at the diverse reasons of why people joined jihadist groups beyond simply religion.
Her comments came just days after police arrested a cell in Catalonia that was poised to carry out an attack.
The 11 suspected terrorists arrested last week across the northeastern region planned to carry out kidnappings and a public execution, as well as attacks on Jewish businesses, according to a judge who questioned them.
The self-proclaimed Islamic State, which rules a swathe of territory in Syria and Iraq it has deemed an Islamic "caliphate", has attracted thousands of foreign fighters, many from the West.
Authorities have reported that about 100 Spaniards have travelled to join jihadists in Iraq and Syria.
Still, this number is relatively low compared to Spain's western European counterparts, according to the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR).
The ICSR's most recent estimates showed that while France, Germany and the United Kingdom have seen the highest number of residents and citizens leaving to join fighters in Syria and Iraq, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden have been most affected per capita.
Spain has stepped up anti-terrorism efforts in recent months, conducting a series of raids on suspected jihadist cells, though most of those arrested have been accused of recruiting militants for Isis fighters rather than actually planning attacks themselves.
Catalonia police arrested 11 people with suspected links to Isis last week for allegedly planning an attack in the region.


I sit at my desk, enjoying the sunshine that streams through my study window. I can see shrubs close by, then taller trees beyond. Today, their leaves are rippling in the wind—it feels somehow soothing to watch them and to note how their shapes are etched against the bright blue sky. It is cool outside, but I am warm and snug, as I try to find words to describe what I am seeing and feeling. I love writing about my beautiful surroundings, but I so much want to do justice to it all.
As I reflect, I realise I am feeling a twinge of what could only be called guilt. How did we end up here, after living in our little, wooden house for thirty-two years? How come that old house sold for such a good price, enabling us to afford our comfortable, spacious unit? Perhaps it's all a dream, I think to myself. Perhaps I'll wake up one morning and find myself back in our old home, instead of in this lovely, quiet place where the only sounds are the birds outside, twittering and singing to one another. I know there are people nearby, but we are on the edge of our Village, where our peace is largely undisturbed, unless we choose to venture out somewhere.
In the quietness, I try to slow my racing mind. God is here with me, I know—and I choose to stop, be still and settle into that warm, loving Presence all around me. Yet, for some reason, I feel unworthy at this point in time. God, why have you chosen to give us all this beauty and comfort, my heart cries out. What have we done to deserve so much material blessing? Could it be … maybe you meant it for someone else, God? Has it all been a big mistake?
Then I sense God's loving arms around me and feel the Spirit's warmth and fullness flooding my being. I open my Bible, but even before I do, I seem to hear God's gentle, reassuring voice: This is no mistake, Jo-Anne. This is just a picture in the natural of the grace I have poured out on you in the spiritual. As you look around and enjoy what you have received, know it is my delight to give you a place where you can flourish and where you can serve me with a heart at peace and overflowing with my love for others. And as you do, may you be reminded of the abundance of my grace that called you to be part of my family forever—that grace beyond measure that you can never earn or buy.
Then I sit back and relax. Yes, Lord, it is all gift. Everything we have, everything we are. Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for your amazing, overwhelming grace.
One day last week, our grandson told his dad he would like to pay Nanna a visit. At first, our lively five-year-old was content to play hide-and-seek in our new unit. Then I suggested a simple card game, but he wasn't interested. And why would he be? After all, he recently mastered the much trickier game of Uno and now has marathon tournaments with his parents! Eventually, I found an old 'Dora the Explorer' version of the game 'Trouble' and suggested he learn how to play that.
Once our game started, I discovered our son-in-law remembered playing a similar game during his boyhood days in Ghana. Just as I had grown up playing Ludo with my sister, so Kofi had played that same old game as a child too—except he remembered those rules much better than I did.
I recalled those double counters, although not how they stopped others from passing. But obviously, this had been a big deal for Kofi as a child because, even as he mentioned it, his eyes gleamed with glee! No wonder his son is now more than a little competitive!
We explained the rules to Zain as we went along, but I soon noticed Kofi and I were doing things a little differently. Several times, I could have landed on one of our grandson's pieces and sent it back home, but … well, I admit I pretended I didn't see. I didn't have the heart to squash his enjoyment of it all—or his hopes of winning. But his dad was having nothing of that. No way! On several occasions, he sent one of Zain's precious pieces back home with great glee! And, to my surprise, Zain simply accepted this as part of the rules of the game. So much for Nanna's misplaced kindness!
Those rules set a high standard, don't you think? Yet I'm so happy to take them on board. And I hope and pray our Zain will be too one day.
I never thought I would see the day—yet, there I was, sitting in a Latin class again! And somehow, despite the inordinate number of years since I had last conjugated a Latin verb, there was a distinct familiarity about it all.
Knowing I was coming to visit from interstate, my sister had asked her U3A (University of the Third Age) Latin teacher if I could attend his class with her—and what a blast from the past it was! I was warmly welcomed as some sort of 'expert', simply because I had studied Latin for four years at high school, majored in modern languages at university and also survived a year of Classical Greek there. As to how much I remembered … well, that's another story!
The teacher began by gently helping everyone revise all they had learnt up to that point and soon I felt I was in some sort of wind tunnel, being sucked inexorably back over the years. As those beautiful Latin phrases tumbled so effortlessly from his lips, I was again seated in that old classroom in Brisbane on a stifling, summer day, listening to my own teacher explain some finer point of Latin grammar. A moment later, I could hear her dry voice guiding us through a portion of Livy's account of Hannibal's exploits in battle. Next, I am sure I heard her sigh with exasperation, as she attempted to help us scan various lines from Virgil's Aeneid and appreciate the finer points of Latin poetry. We were all so young and restless—and so eager to get on with our lives and leave those school days behind.
I returned to the present with a jolt, realising as I did how different my current Latin class experience was—and what a different space I was now at in my life. This time around, our male teacher was a gracious, respectful, retired university lecturer who knew exactly how to explain things well and how to remind everyone gently about what they already knew, without making them feel stupid in any way. The class members were all mature-age, experienced, lifelong learners who so valued this opportunity to unravel the intricacies of Latin and put their minds to work yet again. I went along for the ride, enjoying it all. And I did so with a truly thankful heart, as I reflected on the amazing journey I have travelled with God during all those intervening years since that last school Latin class of mine.
I have taken several interesting twists and turns in my life, as I lurched from one career to another. Some roles I undertook I thought would be forever, yet that was not to be. Instead, as I look back, I can see how God taught me things through each one that I would desperately need in the next, all the while shaping me to become more of the person I was created to be. No doubt I made some wrong decisions along the way, yet God has watched over me and gently guided me through it all. My times have indeed been in God's hands—and I am so grateful.


Send comments or request a paper copy of Community Health Needs Assessment reports and Implementation Strategies.
For more than 15 years, we've strengthened our standard of care with rigorous Community Health research to identify the most pressing health needs across the communities we serve.
This important commitment is anchored by Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs), conducted every three years by each of our hospitals, and brought to life through comprehensive Implementation Strategies (IS) that are updated each year.
Since 2003, Aurora has partnered with local health departments across eastern Wisconsin to survey residents on their health status and habits and identify areas of greatest need.
Gather specific data on behavioral and lifestyle habits of the adult population, including selected information about each respondent's household.
Accumulate data on the prevalence of risk factors and disease conditions existing within the adult population.
Compare, where appropriate and available, health data of residents to state and national measurements.
The primary community health data provided by these surveys is supplemented with secondary data reports and key informant interview reports, rounding out a range of reliable data sources for Community Health Needs Assessments.
With insights gained through CHNAs, each of our hospitals is responsible for establishing a proactive Implementation Strategy that maps out how they will use their resources to address community health needs.
Select a hospital below to access the latest Community Health Needs Assessment reports and Implementation Strategies and learn more about key community health needs and priorities.
Learn about our collaborative research to uncover overarching health issues.
As the governing body for Aurora Community Benefits, the Community Board is authorized to review, assess and formally adopt all Community Health Needs Assessment reports and Implementation Strategies.


A holistic view of the customer is instrumental in cutting costs, adapting service and setting premiums, she argues, noting that telematics and databases have already profoundly changed the motor sector. Watch the video to discover more on how a holistic view of the customer is instrumental in cutting costs, adapting service and setting premiums. Such a holistic view is "the panacea to unlock the business" by reducing costs and improving pricing.
Latest figures from business and credit risk analyst CRIF Vision-net show that Ireland's economy is flourishing despite ongoing Brexit uncertainty. An average of almost 71 new companies were formed every day in the first quarter of 2019, while the number of insolvencies remained consistent for the same period.
CRIF has been selected by the Central Bank of The Bahamas through an international tender process launched in April 2018 and has been invited to apply for a license to establish and operate the first private credit bureau in the jurisdiction. Following the evaluation process, CRIF was chosen as a strategic partner thanks to its proven track record in the development of credit information systems worldwide.
CRIF will take part at the Digital Innovation in Banking Services Conference, held in the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, Dublin.
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In this section you can freely download the CRIF press kit, which is designed to help journalists learn more about the company's background information, a timeline of the history and local/global presence. For any further support, please write to the CRIF Press Office.


text:
Deputy Sheriff W. J. McFadden
Bannock County Sheriff's Department
Bannock County Sheriff's Department, Idaho
End of Watch Saturday, August 23, 1913
W. J. McFadden
Deputy Sheriff W.J. McFadden was shot and killed in Grace, Idaho, by a man he attempted to arrest on a charge of bootlegging.
The suspect was apprehended three days later in Cobre, Nevada. Six weeks later he was convicted of Deputy McFadden's murder and sentenced to life. On May 23rd, 1914, he was shot and killed when he attempted to escape from the Idaho Penitentiary.
Deputy McFadden was survived by his wife and two children.
Age Not available
Tour Not available
Offender Sentenced to life
{"lat":"42.8681870","lon":"-112.4431033"}
Deputy Sheriff McFadden,
On today, the 102nd anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of Bannock County.


There are times when making a quick meal is more important than preparing a nutritious homemade dish, and that's the best time to use convenience products like canned soups, processed cheese, packaged croutons, etc. That's exactly why they're called "convenience" products, since they are very convenient for a cook in a hurry. Cheezy Crunchy Zucchini Bake can be put together in a matter of minutes – zucchini takes only a minute or two to slice, and a bit of onion takes only a minute or two to chop (many busy cooks chop several onions at once and keep them in the freezer for times like this). While chopping the two vegetables, the cheese and butter can be melting in the microwave. While the casserole is baking, the accompanying meat, chicken, or fish can be broiled, grilled, or baked and the starch (rice, noodles, potatoes) can be made. So this dish can be part of a 30-45 minute easy meal, which is quick enough for a weeknight.
Incidentally, if the garden is also overrun with yellow summer squash, it can be substituted for the zucchini in this dish; or use half yellow squash and half zucchini for a colorful and delicious change. Don't be fooled by the ease of preparing Cheezy Crunchy Zucchini Bake, or the fact that it contains convenience products. It is one that has become a favorite with all of the official Hancock tasters, as well as others who have happened to eat dinner at the Hancock table.
Spread the zucchini slices over the bottom of a 9 x 13" shallow casserole dish; sprinkle with the onions.
Place the cheese and 1/4 cup butter in a microwaveable container; microwave 2-3 minutes, stirring after every minute, until the cheese is melted.
Stir in the soup and pour over the zucchini and onions.
Scatter the croutons over the sauce mixture; pour the remaining 1/4 cup butter over the croutons.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.


text:
Deloitte hack: Any impact on UK...
Deloitte hack: Any impact on UK businesses would be "minimal", say government officials
Government cybersecurity officials have not seen any evidence to suggest that British businesses have been significantly affected by the Deloitte cyber attack, NS Tech can disclose.
The professional services firm, which provides cyber security consultancy, confirmed this morning that an attacker had accessed some clients' confidential data after hacking into an email server.
But a spokesperson for the National Cyber Security Centre said any impact on British data had been "minimal". The ICO reiterated that message, adding that investigations were ongoing.
Deloitte said that the "very few clients" that were hit had been contacted. It did not comment on whether any were British, but said that "no disruption has occurred to client businesses".
Deloitte has not commented on the content of the information that was accessed by hackers. But the breach has raised fears that hackers could use stolen email addresses to launch phishing attacks on businesses.
"Many people expect their email address to be in the public domain," Alan Woodward, a cyber-security expert at Surrey University, told the BBC.
"But what most people have done when dealing with confidential matters is they have a second address – and it looks like it is that one that may have been let out here.
"Is it immediately going to be mean people's data will be breached? Not really – but the secondary, more confidential email addresses mean phishing can become much more sophisticated."
The Guardian, which first reported the hack, said the breach was discovered in March, but happened in October or November 2016. Deloitte said the relevant government authorities were contacted immediately.
Infosec 19: "Our rules are no longer fit for purpose," says Jamie Bartlett
The IP Bill passes into law and finally the IT companies start explaining the implications
Self-driving lorry convoys are coming to the UK next year


text:
Rhoton, Albert L. (4)
Matsuo, Satoshi (2)
Miki, Koichi (2)
Baydin, Serhat (1)
Güngör, Abuzer (1)
Iihara, Koji (1)
Jiang, Xiaochun (1)
Joo, Wonil (1)
Kurogi, Ryota (1)
Matsushima, Ken (1)
Poblete, Tomas (1)
Quilis-Quesada, Vicent (1)
Wang, Jian (1)
Yoshioka, Fumitaka (1)
By Author: Komune, Noritaka x
The cochlea in skull base surgery: an anatomy study
Jian Wang, Fumitaka Yoshioka, Wonil Joo, Noritaka Komune, Vicent Quilis-Quesada and Albert L. Rhoton Jr.
The object of this study was to examine the relationships of the cochlea as a guide for avoiding both cochlear damage with loss of hearing in middle fossa approaches and injury to adjacent structures in approaches directed through the cochlea.
Twenty adult cadaveric middle fossae were examined using magnifications of ×3 to ×40.
The cochlea sits below the floor of the middle fossa in the area between and below the labyrinthine segment of the facial nerve and greater petrosal nerve (GPN) and adjacent to the lateral genu of the petrous carotid. Approximately one-third of the cochlea extends below the medial edge of the labyrinthine segment of the facial nerve, geniculate ganglion, and proximal part of the GPN. The medial part of the basal and middle turns are the parts at greatest risk in drilling the floor of the middle fossa to expose the nerves in middle fossa approaches to the internal acoustic meatus and in anterior petrosectomy approaches. Resection of the cochlea is used selectively in extending approaches through the mastoid toward the lateral edge of the clivus and front of the brainstem.
An understanding of the location and relationships of the cochlea will reduce the likelihood of cochlear damage with hearing loss in approaches directed through the middle fossa and reduce the incidence of injury to adjacent structures in approaches directed through the cochlea.
In Journal of Neurosurgery Volume 125 (2016): Issue 5 (Nov 2016): Pages 1053-1324
Midline and off-midline infratentorial supracerebellar approaches to the pineal gland
Satoshi Matsuo, Serhat Baydin, Abuzer Güngör, Koichi Miki, Noritaka Komune, Ryota Kurogi, Koji Iihara and Albert L. Rhoton Jr.
A common approach to lesions of the pineal region is along the midline below the torcula. However, reports of how shifting the approach off midline affects the surgical exposure and relationships between the tributaries of the vein of Galen are limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the microsurgical and endoscopic anatomy of the pineal region as seen through the supracerebellar infratentorial approaches, including midline, paramedian, lateral, and far-lateral routes.
The quadrigeminal cisterns of 8 formalin-fixed adult cadaveric heads were dissected and examined with the aid of a surgical microscope and straight endoscope. Twenty CT angiograms were examined to measure the depth of the pineal gland, slope of the tentorial surface of the cerebellum, and angle of approach to the pineal gland in each approach.
The midline supracerebellar route is the shortest and provides direct exposure of the pineal gland, although the culmen and inferior and superior vermian tributaries of the vein of Galen frequently block this exposure. The off-midline routes provide a surgical exposure that, although slightly deeper, may reduce the need for venous sacrifice at both the level of the veins from the superior cerebellar surface entering the tentorial sinuses and at the level of the tributaries of the vein of Galen in the quadrigeminal cistern, and require less cerebellar retraction. Shifting from midline to off-midline exposure also provides a better view of the cerebellomesencephalic fissure, collicular plate, and trochlear nerve than the midline approaches. Endoscopic assistance may aid exposure of the pineal gland while preserving the bridging veins.
Understanding the characteristics of different infratentorial routes to the pineal gland will aid in gaining a better view of the pineal gland and cerebellomesencephalic fissure and may reduce the need for venous sacrifice at the level of the tentorial sinuses draining the upper cerebellar surface and the tributaries of the vein of Galen.
In Journal of Neurosurgery Volume 126: Issue 6 (Jun 2017): Pages 1747-2058
The endoscopic anatomy of the middle ear approach to the fundus of the internal acoustic canal
Noritaka Komune, Satoshi Matsuo, Koichi Miki and Albert L. Rhoton Jr.
The application of the endoscope in the lateral skull base increases the importance of the middle ear cavity as the corridor to the skull base. The aim of this study was to define the middle ear as a route to the fundus (lateral end) of the internal acoustic canal and to propose feasible landmarks to the fundus.
This was a cadaveric study; 34 adult cadaveric temporal bones and 2 dry bones were dissected with the aid of the endoscope and microscope to show the anatomy of the transcanal approach to the middle ear and fundus of the internal acoustic canal.
In the middle ear cavity, the cochleariform process is one of the key landmarks for accessing the fundus of the internal acoustic canal. The triangle formed by the anterior and posterior edges of the overhang of the round window and the cochleariform process provides a landmark to start drilling the bone to access the fundus of the internal acoustic canal.
The external acoustic canal and middle ear cavity combined, using endoscopic guidance, can provide a route to the fundus of the internal acoustic canal. A triangular landmark crossing the promontory has been described for reaching the meatal fundus. This transcanal approach requires an understanding of the relationship between the middle ear cavity and the fundus of the internal acoustic canal and provides a potential new area of cooperation between otology and neurosurgery for accessing pathology in this and the bordering skull base.
Preservation of the nerves to the frontalis muscle during pterional craniotomy
Tomas Poblete, Xiaochun Jiang, Noritaka Komune, Ken Matsushima and Albert L. Rhoton Jr.
There continues to be confusion over how best to preserve the branches of the facial nerve to the frontalis muscle when elevating a frontotemporal (pterional) scalp flap. The object of this study was to examine the full course of the branches of the facial nerve that must be preserved to maintain innervation of the frontalis muscle during elevation of a frontotemporal scalp flap.
Dissection was performed to follow the temporal branches of facial nerves along their course in 5 adult, cadaveric heads (n = 10 extracranial facial nerves).
Preserving the nerves to the frontalis muscle requires an understanding of the course of the nerves in 3 areas. The first area is on the outer surface of the temporalis muscle lateral to the superior temporal line (STL) where the interfascial or subfascial approaches are applied, the second is in the area medial to the STL where subpericranial dissection is needed, and the third is along the STL. Preserving the nerves crossing the STL requires an understanding of the complex fascial relationships at this line. It is important to preserve the nerves crossing the lateral and medial parts of the exposure, and the continuity of the nerves as they pass across the STL. Prior descriptions have focused largely on the area superficial to the temporalis muscle lateral to the STL.
Using the interfascial-subpericranial flap and the subfascial-subpericranial flap avoids opening the layer of loose areolar tissue between the temporal fascia and galea in the area lateral to the STL and between the galea and frontal pericranium in the area medial to the STL. It also preserves the continuity of the nerve crossing the STL. This technique allows for the preservation of the nerves to the frontalis muscle along their entire trajectory, from the uppermost part of the parotid gland to the frontalis muscle.
In Journal of Neurosurgery Volume 122 (2015): Issue 6 (Jun 2015): Pages 1253-A1579


Fred Wieneke 88, of West Point, died Thursday, March 7, 2019 at St. Joseph's Hillside Villa in West Point. Memorial Mass with military honors will be 10:30am on Tuesday, March 12 at St. Mary's Catholic Church with Fr. Steve Emanuel as celebrant. Lunch will follow at St. Joseph's Hillside Villa community room. Burial will be at a later date. Visitation will be Monday from 12:00pm to 7:00pm with a vigil service at 7:00pm at Stokely Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Sunshine Center. Arrangements by Stokely Funeral Home.
Frederick Joseph Wieneke was born on March 25, 1930 to Steve and Gertrude (Goeken) Wieneke on the family farm south east of West Point. After attending Guardian Angels Catholic School, Fred was drafted into the United States Marine Corps in 1952. He was stationed Korea for a year during the Korean War before being honorably discharged in 1954. Fred went to janitor school and worked at West Point Public Schools as a janitor for 35 years. After his retirement, he worked part time at McDonald's for a few years.
Fred was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Because of his love of nature, Fred built birdhouses and grew a wonderful flower and vegetable garden.
Fred is preceded in death by his parents; sister, Helen Wieneke and infant sister, Adella.
Dodge, Beemer, Scribner, Snyder, Howells, Fremont and surrounding Northeast Nebraska communities. © 2019 Stokely Funeral Home.
Site by The Gage Team.


text:
DRC: Terrorism claims used to silence radio stations in Nord-Kivu
IFEX
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 17 November 2014.
Reporters Without Borders condemns the government's announced closure of five opposition radio stations in the Beni region of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu in a communiqué marked by irregularities. These types of measures makes it easier for the intelligence services to move against local media.
Information minister Lambert Mendé announced the closure of the stations and the withdrawal of their licences in a communiqué broadcast by Radio Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) on 14 November. The stations are located in a region that is 400 km north of Goma, the provincial capital.
The communiqué accused the five stations – RTGB (Radio Télévision Graben Beni), Radio Liberté Beni (RALIB), Radio Télévision Rwanzururu (RTR), Radio Ngoma FM and Radio Furu – of supporting terrorism and conniving with the ADF/NALU rebels.
Owned by people affiliated with the opposition, all five stations are used to reporting the views of both ruling party members and members of the opposition.
"Coming from one of the highest government levels, these closure orders display a disturbing degree of irregularity in both substance and procedure," said Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Africa desk.
"It is hard not to see this as a political attempt to gag opposition radio stations. We call on the information ministry to rescind these orders, which obstruct the Congolese public's right to pluralist news and information."
The orders violated procedure because, according to the law, it is not the information ministry's job to announce the closure of radio stations. Any media closure on the grounds of content must be the subject of a procedure involving the Higher Council for Broadcasting and Communication (CSAC), whose duties include regulating the media.
This established procedure gives the media concerned a right to respond to charges, which clearly did not happen in this case. The media must also be notified in writing, not by means of a communiqué read out over the air.
"We were never formally notified," Radio Liberté Beni director Jina Ivoha told Reporters Without Borders. "A government is supposed to use written documents. You cannot close a radio station by reading a communiqué. This is politics pure and simple. Our stations have been shut down simply because the government did not like us."
According to testimonies, the communiqué is being enforced on the ground through threats made by the mayor of Beni, Bwanakawa Nyonyi Jean Edmond, as well as ANR agents.
The communiqué read out on the air by RTNC was also inaccurate. It listed Radio Ngoma FM as one of the stations to be closed although it stopped broadcasting nearly six months ago for lack of funds, long before the resurgence in atrocities by the AFD/NALU rebels in the Beni region two months ago.
Closure and confusion
The communiqué also mentioned a radio station that does not exist – "Radio Furu." There is a radio station in the Furu district of Butembo (a city 54 km north of Beni) that is called Radio Espoir FM but it has not stopped operating. One of its representatives, Léon Tsongo, said: "The information ministry closed 'Radio Furu' of Beni, not Radio Espoir FM of Butembo, so we think it does not concern us."
The National Intelligence Agency (ANR) has moved quickly to execute the closures albeit in a somewhat confused manner.
ANR officials arrived at Radio Liberté Butembo on 15 November with the intention of closing it because they confused it with Radio Liberté Beni, which was named in the communiqué. They nonetheless returned to Radio Liberté Butembo this morning and this time they did cut short its broadcasts and confiscate equipment.
Radio Liberté Butembo manager Ulrich Muyeye said the government took issue with the fact that the station broadcast an opposition politician's comment on a speech by Nord-Kivu's governor on the massacres in the city of Beni.
Later in the day, after a mediation meeting, the material was returned to the radio which was allowed to broadcast again.
Germaine Mwanza and El Katé Maganiryo, two journalists with Radio Graben Kasindi (located 80 km from Beni, near the Ugandan border), were arrested by ANR officers on 14 November and were held for 48 hours in an ANR detention centre.
Shortly after their arrest, Radio Graben Kasindi was illegally closed, probably because officials confused it with Radio Graben Beni, one of the stations named in the communiqué. Although released, the two journalists have been forced to stay in Beni and have not been able to go back to work.
The ADF/NALU rebels have been held responsible for a number of shocking recent massacres in the Beni region in which, according to Nord-Kivu civil society sources, 120 people have died since 2 October.
Security is often cited as grounds for gagging the media in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is ranked 151st out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.
Labels: Africa, Counter-Terrorism, DRC, Freedom of Speech, Media, Terrorism